Ministers on the move

What will happen to sleepy Dodoma once the government moves in? Photo: Flickr/Afromusing CC BY 2.0

The countdown is on for ministries to move to Dodoma, which has been the capital city of Tanzania since 1972.

Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa says at least 80 percent of the government offices need to leave Dar between March and September this year, according to the Citizen newspaper.

By next Friday, February 10, the Ministry of Health will be among those who have already shifted their main offices to Dodoma, says minister Ummy Mwalimu.

The Citizen article also states that the population of the once sleepy city of Dodoma is expected to hit 3 million this year.

A master plan has already been drafted and land has been set aside for satellite cities and ‘there will be demolitions of some buildings in the municipality,’ says Dodoma’s regional commissioner Jordan Rugimbana.

“Some people, especially traders, will be relocated to the outskirts,” says Rugimbana.

The move is expected to cost the government $582.9 million USD over the next three years.

President John Magufuli has already stated that next year’s Independence Day celebrations will be held in Dodoma, not Dar es Salaam.

Dodoma was originally named the capital city by Tanzania’s first president Julius Nyerere in 1972, who liked its central location.

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